Dr Chu is Coming for You
by danysdrogo
Summary: The world was saved, or so the flock thought. Just when their lives had begun to settle down, an old enemy is back, and with a vengeance. Dr. Chu will save the world, no matter who gets hurt in the process, no matter how many genes spliced or backs broken. Can the flock stop the madness, or will they become pawns in the next evil plan to 'save' the world?
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: the end of days.

Today was one of those days, thought Max wistfully, where everything around you seems to glow with an unreal radiance. Which Max didn't think much of the time because this was something that she rarely felt. Constantly, there's a crisis at hand. Someone's life is always in peril or some new baddie wanted to shave the world down to the nubs and start again. Now, that's all over. She could finally relax. She could revel in this moment with one of her favorite people. Fang. She was happy just to get out of the house and have some time to goof around and date… a normal teenager would.

 _But you're not a normal teenager. You've got a job to do. It's not over._ The Voice interjected, putting a damper on her happiness as per usual. Just because she's supposed to save the world doesn't mean that she shouldn't be able to have fun, right? Itex is disbanded and dead; the flock made sure of that by storming the last known branch.

 _Max, it's never over._ Max tries as hard as she can to drown him out and focus on Fang flipping his dark bangs from out of his eyes. She sighs; she really loves those small idiosyncrasies of his.

 _How long do you intend for this vacation to last? There isn't time for… for whatever this is. You need to get back out there and nip Itex at the bud before the regroup and it becomes too late._ The Voice scolds her. Shaking her head, she nuzzles closer into Fang's arm, willingly letting his nonsense fade from her thoughts.

Once she's knocked down the leader of Itex they'd all went falling down like dominoes. Even after that, she knocked down those who she was sure would try to vie to be the next leader. Every single possibility had been exhausted. There's nothing left, each leader either dead or rotting in prison. So why should she let the Voice suck all of the fun of her day to day life? She's worked hard and long for years. Who's to say she doesn't deserve a break?

The fact that Fang was here with her didn't make things any worse. It makes them better, making her feel like they were finally becoming a real couple. Fang tapped her shoulder, "You okay? You were kind of zoning out there."

She shrugged. "It was just the Voice, nothing really."

"No, what did it say?"

"Itex's not gone, yada yada yada… you know we already took care of that." Max tries to convince him that everything was fine, because it was. Though Fang doesn't seem to be taking the message the same way Max is. He seemed a little _too_ shaken by it, like he knew something she didn't.

"We should head back home, Max." Fang shakes her off his shoulder and takes her hand.

"No." Max tugs away from him, though following him as he heads back to her mother's house. "What's got you so spooked all of a sudden?"

Fang sighs heavily. "Have you ever thought that no matter what we do, no matter where we go, there will always be people out there who want to hurt us? You know… hunt us down?"

"Of course. But there's nothing we can do about that."

"That's exactly my point. There's nothing we can do. So understand that we'll never stop the world from ending. The humans with their thirst for mad science and dangerous splices, blowing themselves up and shit… Maybe we can't save the world because it's doomed to fail. Inevitable." Fang spoke quickly, as if these pessimistic thoughts have been hovering on the backburner of his throat for the longest time.

"That's no reason to stop living our lives and striving for normal lives— "

"Isn't it?"

"Fang, I—I don't understand. All of this, where is it coming from? Did something happen when I wasn't around?"

"Sort of, but it's just… Max I've been thinking. Maybe instead of trying to steer clear of all the craziness, we should lean into it to shape it to our liking. It has to be better than constantly living panicked and dirty lives in damp caves."

 _He's right, you know._

No, he isn't. Max stopped in place on the sidewalk of the residential street, suppressing the urge to shout. Arguing with yourself that she doesn't believe her own opinion. What was she coming to? She turns to Fang. "Are you about to let some voice scare you after all of the things that we've been through? It's wrong all the time; I know that better than anyone else. What's different this time."

His eyes hardened, seemingly holding something back from her. As Max moved to ask him about it, the negativity drains from his face as quickly as it had appeared. He tries to smile for her nonetheless. "Fine. Let's go see that movie."

She smiles brightly back up at him, letting the issue sink of the back of her mind. Today was their date. If there was something up, it's have to wait for tomorrow.

And soon enough they are sitting in the back of a small movie theatre with two large tubs of buttery, heart-attack inducing popcorn and two Dr. Peppers they'd sneaked in under Fang's hoodie. We sat in the back of a superhero action-flick. Fang's arm wraps around her shoulders. She sighs and relaxes into it. Fang speaks. "You're right. It is great to feel normal for once."

"Yeah, it was so nice of Dr. Martinez to hold down the fort so that we could have some fun."

"I just hope Iggy doesn't burn it down before we get back," he says, chuckling softly.

"Enough about them, Fang. We're here to focus on us for once."

Fang scoffs. "Maxi, look at these trailers. Those guys have nothing on us. I mean who dresses up in spandex to fight bad guys? It's ridiculous. I think combat boots are the only thing I've ever needed."

He begins to play with a bit of her hair absentmindedly. Max looks up at him in the dark. Fang eyes are still glued to the screen, although Max believes she can make out a faint flush on his cheeks in the dark. She smirks. "I was thinking it was alright, but what's better than the real thing? Except more appreciation from the general public."

"Maybe, but they aren't as pretty as you."

Max smiles as she pokes him in the rib. "I don't know about you but that Captain Am— "

She's cut off when Fang leans down kisses her on the lips. It isn't a deep one, but a simple one, a soft peck that makes her heart flutter prettily. Fang pulls away and stands up. "This movie sucks. Wanna get ice cream?"

She looks around; the tubs of popcorn are nearly empty. Max replies, hoping she doesn't sound too ditzy. "Sure."

They walk home in a comfortable silence, Max contented by his arm slung lazily around her waist. On the way they stop for ice cream cones. Max orders mint chocolate chip, while Fang settles for a simple vanilla cone. Max asks, amused, and almost hoping they never arrive home. "So you feeling another superhero flic next time or what?"

"Maybe not, but it just got me thinking about how our lives would be if we didn't have wings. We'd be a bunch of orphans. "Fang asks between licks on his cone.

"What, with less noticeable scales in place of wings?" Max wonders aloud, already finishing her ice cream. She stands up to walk again. Fang wordlessly follows her. "Though I'm not sure if I'd take that change because I happen to think having wings is pretty freaking awesome."

"Good point, even if it does make us underdogs."

Max pauses for a moment than before laughing. "Wait – you think you're an underdog. You think you're the underdog?"

He laughed. "Why not?"

"Because—because you're not." Max says. "It's not who you are. Think about it like this: In movies the underdog is the one person who after times and times of trying and trying, they finally get the one thing no one ever though they would get. You get what you want, because you're driven."

"I never thought I would get you," he replies quietly.

"Same," she says. "I thought I would never be free of labs."

"I never thought I would live a life past the age of twelve."

"I never thought I would have a family as great as ours."

"I never thought I… would love someone as great as you, or have such a great family." Fang replies, a light twinkle recognizable in his usually unreadable eyes. "So maybe we're all underdogs in a way. The only silver lining of our situation."

"Definitely." They share a hug, and as they turn the corner to Dr. Martinez's house, Max realizes that she had something she had to say as well.

"I never thought I would love— "Max tries to reply, but before she could Fang's face drops. His steps falter until he comes to a complete stop. He intakes a sharp breath.

"Fang, what's wrong?"

Fang leans against their neighbor's fence, breathing heavily. His labored breathing grows scarce before he collapses. As he loses consciousness, Fang makes a final grasp at his neck. Filled with horror, she holds him up. His head falls limp against her shoulder; his hair falls out of the way revealing a date. Today's date. Then suddenly their day started to make a lot more sense, all of his defeatist behavior. Wouldn't he want everyone to know, or at least help him stop it if there were any way possible? Or to make his last days that much more lovely?

She could feel tears falling of their own volition. No amount of words could describe how man, no, sad, no _furious_ she was. Max couldn't understand why he wouldn't tell her, why he'd want to die alone, without anyone knowing until his last breath.

She sat with his body cradled to her chest, just trying to fathom how to explain this, trying to stop her silent tears from falling. She needed to collect herself and be strong. Fang wasn't dying today, unless she had anything to do about it…

Max stormed through the doorway, ignoring all the crazed glances, bee-lining for her mother. She finds her in her bedroom, hunched over a book reading by lamp. She bursts through the door, snapping Valencia out of her novel. Looking up, she sees Fang lying limp in her arms. As if by instinct, she leaps into action, rushing them to her clinic. On the way, Max tells her the entire story… what she hoped wasn't an expiration date on his neck.

Valencia was worried. With all her heart, she wanted to save Fang, but knew she couldn't; she didn't have the heart to tell Max that. How could you fight a programmed expiration date? The odds weren't in her favor. How could she fight against what his body wanted?

She did, however, hook him up to the machines. She gave him sedatives, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and watched his heart rate drop… Out of the corner of Valencia's eye, she could see Max weeping softly in the corner. It was near eleven-thirty and she couldn't bear to see it anymore. She had to save him, for her daughter.

Valencia was taken by surprise when Fang's eyelids fluttered for a moment, and hope glittered in her heart. She did her best to try to keep Fang awake, but it seemed like he just wanted to close his eyes… and sleep. By now, Max was watching him; she saw when his eyes started to roll back. Dr. Martinez could only imagine how scared Max was. She had to keep tapping his face to stop it, but soon this problem became more frequent, and she was afraid that she was going to lose him. There was nothing she could do.

Just minutes later, the flock rushes into her clinic with Iggy in their arms. He was unconscious and his face was paling by the second. She took him from them and set him next to Fang, whose eyes were now open and fighting to stay that way. In a snap decision, she decided to pull out a vial of adrenaline and put it into a shot, injecting it directly into his heart. She hoped it could save him if she couldn't.

He inhaled sharply, his knuckles turning white as he grasped the edges of the table. Only moments later did his body slow down, did the drugs start to wear off. He slowly lay back down, his dark eyes closing. "I'll… be… okay."

Max screams and runs towards her. Angel catches her just in time to hold her back, calm her down.

"I trusted you!" She screams, sweating rage and fury. "I trusted you, and you, you killed him!"

Valencia was taken aback by what she said, because as harsh as it was, it was true. She had trusted me to help him, and I had let her down. She'd killed him. The reality of the situation made her a little woozy. She staggered back against the wall, her breaths uneven. She had dealt with tons of animals before, and none of it even compared to this. She had killed a person. She killed someone that her daughter cared about in volumes.

What broke her out of her trance was her daughter falling to the ground, right out of Angel's grasp. The look on the young girl's face was pure horror; Valencia couldn't bear to look any longer. Turning away, she pulled more examination tables into the room (if worse came to worse) and placed Max on one next to Fang. She was so peaceful when she was asleep; a tear streamed down her cheek. She had always had a soft spot for her daughter, whether she was ninety-eight percent human, or not. She wasn't like the cold-hearted scientists. She couldn't let her die, not like this. She calmed down, and prepared to get back to work now that she was thinking clearly again. She grabbed some cloth from the table and headed to Iggy's bedside, when Angel tugged on her lab coat. "Dr. Martinez?

Tiny beads of sweat formed on her forehead. She couldn't imagine answering this child's questions. The whole situation was out of control; this couldn't be the end for them! They were the flock, the ones who would save the world… "Yes, sweetie?"

"I can't hear… your thoughts," she said tiredly. Valencia stared in awe at her; how could she not hear my thoughts? I didn't understand. It would make sense that Max, Fang, and Iggy would go down together, because they're all fifteen (even they should be months apart), but now it seemed that they were all being taken down at once. If this were a real expiration date, then Angel would have eight years left, Nudge would have three, and so on, but the fact that this was simultaneous was beyond coincidence. Someone was taking the flock down, and she could only imagine why.

Angel falls into Valencia's arms. Gasping, she holds her. He skin was growing cold and her eyes were already rolling back into her head. When she glanced around she saw that Nudge and Gazzy were already unconscious and on the ground. Trying to keep from going mad with pressure, she laid them on examination tables, one by one, and set to work. She took a set of tools out a cabinet, and opened Iggy's mouth. She was trying to check all parts of his body, to find out what was wrong. Even if this were the end, she would fight for them all until the last breath. Only Valencia was stopped, because she fell to the ground too, but this wasn't caused by an expiration date; it was by a few familiar faces.

Dr. Chu had injected Valencia with sedatives, which would knock her out long enough for them to do what they needed to do. Shoving her to the side, they started with Fang. According to his pulse he looked dead, but the drug Dr. Martinez gave her had only reacted with the drug they had set off in him, resulting in a false illusion of death. They quickly took out a small machine that would fix their problems once and for all. The machine was a small rectangle, with many medical capabilities. They eventually hooked this machine to every flock member, and got to work. With these machines, they could alter their DNA in anyway they'd like. They could cure illnesses or even inflict one; they could plot out the rest of their lives in the form of genetic code. In the hands of an ordinary person this would be useless, but in the hands of a scientist like themselves, the device was more precious than gold.

They made sure to tweak them in such a way that would work to their liking. These capabilities so to speak would lead to the making of a new world, a jumpstart in what would normally be a process that'd span lifetimes. A few temporary sicknesses were added to some of them, took away some powers here, added some there, and for good measure, they added genes commonly seen in the intelligent. For this plan to work, they needed some things to be removed temporarily, even if it was for a few weeks or for a lifetime, but other things needed to be removed completely, because of the weakness they inflicted on the California Group.

After they finished "fixing" the flock's genes they unhooked the machine from the last of their creations and knocked them all out. They then, left to the house, where Ella, Dylan, Total, and Akila were and took Dylan, who was now collapsed on the floor with Ella crying over him. They sedated Ella and the dogs, while taking Dylan with them. His purpose was over; he had failed his mission and will be terminated immediately. He would have done it now, but he didn't want any interruptions. He didn't bother fixing him either, because as far as they were concerned, he was nothing more than a failed experiment.

So that night, everyone in the house was asleep. It was quiet, too quiet for a house usually filled with so much people, so much laughter. All is silent. As the kids sleep, there is a change taking place, one bigger than all of them. Over the course of the next few weeks, there will be turmoil. Hearts will break, love will grow, minds will expand and people will grow. Just remember this: all change isn't bad; some change can actually be beneficial to us despite the wicked form it may take.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Morning After

 _"Hopeless dreamers, hopeless types..."_

Max wakes up, only to find that she is on an examination table. Her senses switch to alert, afraid that someone has captured her, and does a quick three-sixty. She breathes a sigh of relief; glad she is just in Dr. M's clinic. Why am I in her clinic though, she thought. She sits up to see her family rubbing their heads in confusion. What's going on? She is overwhelmed when she sees Angel's eyes darting around the room, trying to make sense of things. "Sweetie, are you okay?"

She shakes her head no, and Max immediately starts to worry. Angel sits upright, rubbing her tired eyes, stretching her tiny arms. "What happened?"

"I don't know, but help me wake everybody up," Max whispered. They eventually woke everyone up, Gazzy and Nudge. Fang was dead for all she knew, and Iggy was up already, somewhere. She stood over his body, and touched his cold cheek, the events of the previous night rushing back into mind. His expiration date… his death. She tried to keep her feelings in check, but it wasn't working; a single tear fell from her eye and onto his face. She had been hoping for some type of reaction, but there was none. She couldn't believe it; he was dead. The world could be cruel; right after he told him he loved her, he had to die. It all seemed like a cruel joke.

Angel hugged her waist, and whispered, "It'll be okay." And somehow, she found that she believed her.

After her spell of sadness, she realized she had never checked on Iggy, and went to do just that. She searched every part of the clinic, and sighed a sigh of relief when she found that he was in the bathroom, but her alarm rose once again when she heard his retching. She knocked on the door. "Iggy, are you okay?"

On the other side, Iggy heard Max call through the door; he was sitting next to the toilet, clutching his stomach, ready to barf again. He knew something was wrong when he woke up in the clinic that morning, and he knew something was wrong when he heard those voices last night. One of them had been so familiar, but he couldn't remember; most of all he just knew something had been done to him. "Yeah," he tried to say in the most normal voice he could manage at the time. The wave of nausea was just starting to pass, and for the moment, he could breathe easier. "I'm okay."

"I'm going to check on you later, okay?" she yells, she had already started to walk away, for her footsteps had quieted; he mutters a reply, slightly appalled at her attention span.

Soon Gazzy knock on the door, obviously looking for me, because he had not been seen out there for a while now. When Iggy didn't answer, he barged in, and Iggy could almost feel the worry on his face, it sliced heavily through the air. In less than a second, he was by my side, and his stomach started to knot once again. "Ig, what's wrong?"

He started moving closer, but Iggy shoed him off, for the closer he got, the more the urge to vomit increased. "I'm just feeling a little sick; you should leave before you catch it too."

"No, let me feel your forehead," he said as he leaned towards me and put his palm to the spot. Immediately, a searing sensation erupted from his touch that hurt like hell. Just that one-second felt like a thousand years of being on fire; it made him really dizzy and Iggy flinched on contact. Gazzy must have seen this, because he says, "You don't look so good; your face is clammy. Do you want me to call Dr. Martinez?"

Biting back the pain from his hand being on his cheek that whole time, Iggy nodded meekly, and he left the room. Something is wrong with me, he thought. This isn't supposed to happen. It felt like his senses were being magnified by a hundred; he felt horrible. Even though he couldn't see, my eyes were burning from the sunlight pouring in through a window, my nose was twitchy from the smell of lavender antiseptic hand soap, and my ears were popping from the constant drip of water from the sink. My senses were so amplified that when wind blew in through the windows, he could feel the wind touching his hair, as if it was touching his skin.

In a few minutes, Dr. Martinez helped me up, and we slowly made our way to a small examination room. She lay me down on a table, and began to diagnose me. She shone a light in my eyes, which made me flinch; the light was irritating my eyes. After a while of testing, she had reached her conclusion. "Iggy. Now we know there is something wrong here. Your nerve responses are slow, your senses seem heightened, and your heart rate is too fast, even for an avian hybrid like yourself. My best guess is that you are sick with some type of flu, hence the high body temperature. So, all the advice I can give you is to stay in bed and I'll give you some medicine in a bit. Okay?"

He nodded weakly, and Dr. Martinez left the room. He sighed heavily, leaning into the metal near him; Iggy hated being sick, even though this was his first time. He never wanted to have this feeling again, but he couldn't help but wonder why he was the only one sick. It takes a lot for a bird kid to be down for the count. Was anyone else sick, or was he alone? More importantly, what was he even sick with, and what happened the night before? Tired of his quiet inner debate, he walked back into the room where everyone else was.

Everyone was either sitting on a table, or thinking quietly to themselves; there wasn't any sound except for the quiet tapping of Iggy's feet, and the quiet sounds of their hushed breathing. Iggy walked through the clutter of tables, and chairs, to find that something had brushed his arm. He reached out to feel it; the cloth was black and warm, and he immediately thought Fang. There was a twang of heartache that he didn't know what was for; he felt the urge to keep touch his face. He continued to feel the fabric; the figure seemed sill, unmoving. Just then, he heard Max's footsteps making their way towards him. "Iggy don—"

Iggy's hands touched Fang's face, his nose, his lips, and grazed his cheek, feeling their coldness. The feel reminded him of his skin, how he felt when he was feeling earlier this morning. He started to move, and Max's footsteps came to a complete stop; she seemed surprised, but Iggy couldn't imagine why. He heard Fang let out a low guttural groan, and Max rushed to his side in a heartbeat; she couldn't believe that he was still alive. Traces of tears in her eyes, she held his torso up. "I can't believe that you're okay. I thought you had…"

Fang didn't even seem to be listening, there seemed to be an immense pain about his face, the more she held him up. Before she could even ask him what was wrong, he doubled over in agony. She wiped some of his hair out of his face, but he flinched at her touch, like it hurts. She let go of him, and he seemed a little better, but he was still clutching his stomach wildly. His breaths were short and ragged, and he seemed to be gasping for air, although there was plenty around him. His face even seemed to have a greenish glow about it. "Are you okay?"

Iggy, who had sensed his disposition, helped him off of the table, and into the bathroom he had previously occupied. He had an idea of what to do because something similar had happened to him that same morning. Just holding him up, helping him, made him feel a little better about what was happening. While Fang threw up, Iggy stood by silently, solemnly, holding his hair back, patting his back. Max stood in the hallway in the doorway, watching the silent scene, taking it in; she still couldn't believe that Iggy had been able to help him. She was just hung up on the fact that he was actually alive. It had scared her so badly, terrified her when she saw him limp, lifeless on the table; she had felt so helpless, like she couldn't help him at all, but mostly she felt like she had failed him.

In a way she had, because in a time when he had needed her, she was too busy swooning, and acting unusually girly over him; that's what he does to me, she thought, but she should have saved it for later. A time when he was actually feeling better. After all, Max Ride is not one to be girly; it was all because of… him. After Dr. Martinez took a look at Fang she came to a similar conclusion, "I don't know what he's sick with either, but I'm sure it's similar to what Iggy has."

We sat there, for a minute, just thinking and then Nudge suddenly sat up, remembering something, "We forgot about Ella and Dylan, oh, and Total and Akila! I hope their alright, because we did leave them alone for the longest amount of time and-"

Nudge was silenced by the clamping of Gazzy's hand over hers, and she immediately shut up, obviously getting the picture. Then, we left for the house. We all flew over/along with the car, but Iggy and Fang rode in the car with Dr. Martinez, for they were feeling too sick to fly. When they reached the house, a gasp escaped the mouths of everyone. The door was wide open, and the place looked a little ransacked, as if a battle had taken place in the little time that they were gone.

Valencia quietly entered her home, along with the flock, and closed the door behind her, the whole time wondering if Ella was okay. She took this time to glance around, and saw that the room was completely trashed. There were small specks of dried blood spattered on the walls, her wooden chairs were in pieces, and everything was strewn across the room. Among the debris, a small figure lay, not moving. Ella, she thought. Without hesitation, she rushed over to her, and wrapped her arms around her fragile torso. She smoothed out her hair, and frantically patted her face, trying to wake her up. "Ella? Ella, honey, wake up, please."

Her eyes flushed for a moment, and she opened them, all the while staring confusedly. Her chocolate brown eyes were slightly glassy and tired, her body still and achy. Valencia muttered a quick 'thank you', for she couldn't lose her daughter, not now. Ella's eyes snapped into realization and her vision started darting around the room, worry showing on her face, "You have to rescue Dylan; they took him!"

You see, Ella had loved Dylan very much. Ever since the first time they met, a friendship had grown between the two almost by itself. Ella admired his childish charm and the way they could teach each other things; and Dylan loved how smart Ella was, how she always seemed to always have the answer and a warm smile on her face. But now she was worried, because this might be the last time she ever saw him again. Valencia, who had been taking this in, tried to understand the situation better by saying, "Ella, slowdown, and tell us exactly what happened."

And so she did…

Ella's Flashback #1  
The flock was just having a normal day, when Max burst through the front door carrying Fang, bridal style, a slight redness about her face and eyes. At first I was confused; what boy would… ah, never mind, but anyways, it was a really odd picture. Max was close to tears, with Fang in her arms? I immediately knew something was wrong. She ran past us, straight to my mom's room, and promptly left with her. Before they left she yelled through the doorway a quick message to us, "I'm going to the clinic with Max and Fang. Iggy you're in charge! Be back soon honey!"

After grumbling to myself about Iggy being in charge, (I mean really, the blind pyro?) I started to worry. Fang was unconscious, and they were going to mom's clinic, but the thing was: they never get sick. So, this had to be something really serious, for them to leave so suddenly. I decided to shrug it off, silently hoping that everything was still peachy. Until… Iggy, who had been sitting with Gazzy over hunks of metal on the kitchen table, collapsed, in front of everyone. Gazzy thought he was kidding, but when he didn't respond he started freaking out, "Ella. Ella! Iggy won't get up!"

I rushed over to him, and after shaking him to no avail; she checked his pulse, which was really fast, even for someone of his species. The first thing I thought was, heart attack, but then I remembered one key fact: he was a fifteen-year-old bird kid hybrid; they don't get heart attacks. So I knew something else had to be at work. I told the rest of the flock, who were nervously hovering over my shoulder that he wasn't dead; they breathed a sigh of relief at that one, and to get him up; we were taking him to the clinic. My plan was to take Iggy to the clinic so that mom could take care of him, but my mental bubble shattered when Nudge said, "That's a great plan, but we can't carry both of you guys."

I hadn't thought about that. Acknowledging the fact, I figured that she could stay home and wait for them. I hated being on the sidelines, but alas, I was wingless, and super-strengthless. "I'll just stay here. While you're alone, Dylan can be in charge."

I heard Gazzy mutter, 'but he's not even a year old' and shot him an accusing look, which shut him up, but Nudge who was being talkative (as usual) piped up again, "but who's going to watch you?"

I knew it was mean, but I had to scoff at that one, "I don't need to be watched; I'll be okay by myself."

"But two people in the flock are already sick, or whatever. What if these people come to the house looking for us, and find an unprotected thirteen year old, without, may I add, any usable amount of strength? What then?"

Thank you, Nudge. "Okay. So what are you trying to do, get me a baby sitter?"

She sent me a pompous smile, and I sent back a grimace, "That's exactly what I'm trying to do," she scanned the room and pointed her finger at-. "Dylan, you get to baby-sit Ella while we get Iggy to the clinic. Okay?"

He scratched the back of his head, obviously nervous. "I guess."

"Great, now I'm in charge! Everyone, let's go; time's a-wasting here," she ordered, and I chose to smile sweetly, blissfully ignoring the fact that she only chose Dylan so that she could be in charge.

Then, Dylan and I found ourselves alone in the house. For a moment, we just stood there, all the while, a little overwhelmed at the situation that had been inflicted upon us. For a while we watched television, ignoring the fact. Then, Dylan broke the silence, and we started talking; we talked about anything, and everything, our conversation stretching deep into the night. It was a little after one a.m. when we both fell asleep, and it was a little after that, when the door rang. Dylan, having the faster reflexes than I, answered the door, and I expecting to see that everyone was okay, but we didn't exactly get that picture perfect ending.

Before Dylan stood his creator, Dr. Chu and a man I equally disliked (hate was such a strong word), Dr. Jeb Batchelder, walked in, which was when the real trouble started. I was shaken out of my trance, and realized the dangerousness of the situation. Dr. Chu, who seemed to be here on business, waved his hand in the air and three meaty Erasers followed, all ready to tear him apart, limb-by-limb. Jeb stood there impatiently, his arms across his chest, his expression both solemn, and slightly annoyed. Dylan put his dukes up, ready to fight, and punched an Eraser in the face. He was doing pretty well, until Dr. Chu sent for another six saying, and I quote, 'we need to hurry this up; we don't have all night before they wake up!' Then, he started getting beat pretty badly. He was their toy, and I was- just watching him die! I had had enough of this, so I stood up and yelled, "Stop!"

Everything did stop, but now the attention was on me. Oops, I remember thinking, but it was too late. Jeb was already closing in on me, and at my side I could already feel the stinging prick of a needle into my neck, and I knew it was over. I fell to the ground, unconsciousness taking hold of me, but with her last moments of vision I could see Dylan being taken away. And as my sight faded to black, I couldn't help but wonder: why?

End.


End file.
